The August Phenomena

Where to start.....

I guess back in Lagos.

We had lots of amazing experiences there. The weather was great, the beaches and scenery were breathtaking, the town was charming. But the highlight of Lagos was definately the little beach we stumbled upon on our first day. The first day we walked along the clifftops on little dirt trails looking for a way down to a secluded beach. After a bit of a walk we found a small beach to which people were building big steps. Dasha decided that we should look just a little further. Not long after that we spotted some planks of wood in the dirt forming steep steps. We followed them and arrived on this small nude beach nestled in the cliffs. The water was chilly and the beach dissapeared quickly when the tide came in. Our first day we swam a little and taned a lot.

The next day we went back to this beach and the locals started getting much chattier. We met this older man (who we nicknamed "Welcoming comittee") who spoke french and who coaxed us into this tiny little cave only accesible at low tide. After a few little openings, we entered into this large sea cave (It is difficult to describe, the only thing I can really say is that it was amazing). We met another local who spoke english and spanish who gathered up numerous beautiful shells for Dasha. Later we went swimming under a natural arch in the sea. It was like the beach was pulled out of the movies.

On our last day we returned to soak in three more hours of this beautiful beach. We also tried to take pictures of it but it was just not possible to capture the experience.

We also had the great experience of tasting some Port. Dad is wise to like it so much.

Then we had to board our train to Tunes, then to Lisboa, then overnight to Madrid. Our train from Madrid was packed and we were very suprised to learn that our tickets had been purchased for the 7th of August and not July. The ticket guy scrambled for some seats for us but we were forced to sit apart for the first time so far. It was very strange and we decided that we don't really want to do that again. It was also somewhat comical because we had gone through at least 5 checks and nobody noticed; our train from Lisboa had also been booked for August but nothing happened there either. Also in our list of expenses we had mistakenly written the dates as if we were in August... I guess we are somewhat anxious to go home.

Barcelona is like if you flew Paris south, then filled it with young people. The architecture here is so unique and varied. Every building deserves a look and is distinct from its neighbour. We have walked around just soaking in the architecture. We have gone to two Modern Art Museum, and in both we have gotten incredibly confused and depressed. We just don't understand it! So we have decided to go to the beach later today!

We went to a restaurant serving only local ingredients and the menu is a 35 page magasine explaining the origiens of every dish. Today we had some really thick hot chocolate and dipped churros inside (Never enough chocolate!).

There is just too much Europe and not enough time!